30+ Essential Resources for the Modern LGBT Traveler

I’ve added an LGBT column for the website to make the site more inclusive and talk about issues that affect some members of our community. In this column, we will hear from voices in the LGBT community about their experiences on the road, safety tips, events, and overall advice for other LGBT travelers to get the most out of their time on the road! Back again this month is our column leader Adam from travelsofadam.com who is talking about the best websites, apps, and blogs for LGBT travelers.

Today, modern lesbian, gay, bi, and trans travelers no longer need a print guidebook to find underground, gay-friendly places. We don’t have to walk around with colored bandanas to send secret signals when cruising. Why? Because now — more often than not — we’re out in the open.

The basic LGBT trip now starts like any other planned holiday. Where do we go? What do we want to do and see? How do we save money? Thanks to increased acceptance over the years, we’re far more out in the open and, with that comes a lot more options – both online and off – to plan your trip and find LGBT friendly attractions, businesses, tours, and ways to meet people. While we don’t have to let our sexuality define our travels, if you’re looking for activities and people who share a similar lifestyle, these are the best tools on the web:

Where to Find LGBT Travel Inspiration & Things to Do

Travel blogs & vlogs – In this new era for the travel media industry, independent bloggers and YouTubers have been at the forefront. Increasingly, we base our travel decisions (where to go, what to do) on not just our friends’ Instagrams but those who’ve already been there, done that. The most popular gay and lesbian travel bloggers (myself included) generally publish destination guides — it’s just a matter of finding the one that fits your own personal travel style. Here are some of my favorites (starting with my own):

Travel guidebooks – The Damron series started out in 1964 for men but has also published a separate guidebook for lesbians for nearly 20 years. And Spartacus Publishing (out of Germany) has printed a comprehensive guidebook to all gay-oriented hospitality businesses since 1970. Moreover, these days, even the most mainstream publications are likely to include some LGBT-specific recommendations in their listings. For the past several summers, many major travel brands (such as Trip.com, Lonely Planet, Expedia, and even Hostelworld) have gone so far as to print LGBT Pride travel guides.

Unfortunately most of these indie publications have poor websites, so your best LGBT travel research is going to have to happen on the ground. One of the best ways to find them in a new city is to simply go to the queer neighborhood and then look for them in a bookstore or bar — anyone who’s ever been inside a gay bar or club is probably familiar with the stack of magazines, brochures, or flyers in the doorway or by the bathrooms. (And make sure to support those businesses that carry these publications!) Also check out the pamphlets, flyers, and advertisements on the corkboard in the local LGBT center.

Some examples:

Siegessäule, Berlin’s free gay magazine, likes to claim one of the highest readerships and circulations of any print media in Germany.

HISKIND, a free lifestyle magazine in London with thought-provoking essays and local artist and drag queen interviews.

Company blogs – Even the biggest gay apps have started to push out content through their channels. Grindr launched a digital magazine, Into, with a travel section earlier this year, and Hornet acquired the one-time popular gossip blog Unicorn Booty several years ago and now publishes gay men’s travel guides for assorted cities (even if they’re slightly basic). Each of the other hookup apps, including the more niche ones, like Surge and Planet Romeo, maintain regularly published blogs, sometimes featuring travel tips and local insider guides. Scruff probably has gone the furthest in incorporating travel tips into its app with the feature Scruff Venture, which allows users to search a destination for other visitors, local ambassadors, and events.

IGLTA – The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association is the leader when it comes to LGBT tourism. Its members include hundreds of airlines, hotels, destination tourism offices, and independent tour operators, both LGBT-owned and mainstream. On its website, you’ll find a useful “Plan Your Trip” feature that searches through its members (just be mindful that these are members who have paid for their placement). It’s a great place to find LGBT-specific things to do on your trip.

LGBT-friendly accommodation – Often the most challenging part of gay travel can be finding an LGBT-friendly hotel or accommodation. Some of the biggest hotel chains and brands have actively supported the LGBT community by participating in Pride events around the world, by training all their staff (from the front desk to the reservations center) in diversity and inclusiveness issues, and by running LGBT-inclusive campaigns. Even Airbnb launched a #HostWithPride campaign last year after updating its terms of service to protect and safeguard LGBT travelers and hosts.

There are gay-specific accommodation websites such as Rainbow World Hotels, Purple Roofs, and MisterBNB, but you’ll almost always find the same listings on mainstream sites for far cheaper prices. You’re paying a premium when trying to book through a gay-specific website, and in most instances, the mainstream sites and listings are increasingly safe and comfortable for LGBT travelers.

How to Meet Other LGBT Travelers

Gay travelers today are much luckier to have apps like Grindr in their pockets. I never would’ve discovered a gay bar in Amman without the Grindr app and a local’s helpful directions, nor would I have met that handsome tourist from Austria during Prague Gay Pride. Meeting strangers is one of the joys of traveling, and there’s nothing better than having an LGBT local to show you around. It will certainly make a trip more interesting, much more memorable. Here’s where to find them:

The hookup apps – If there’s one thing that’s revolutionized our little gay world, it’s Grindr, the location-based hookup app for gay men. For better or worse (you either love it or hate it), Grindr has changed the way we find sex, love, or even friends and it’s also quite simply enabled a lot more connections. Grindr makes it easier to meet locals when you’re abroad, whether it’s for a romp in the bushes behind Berghain or an innocent coffee date. While sex does happen often enough through these apps, it doesn’t have to be the end goal or even your main objective to still find value in them. Here are the main useful apps:

Networking groups – For a long time, Couchsurfing was one of the best places to meet other LGBT travelers and locals. With a strong community, the bed-sharing and hosting network made it easy to connect with other travelers — and the “Queer Couchsurfers” group was one of the site’s most active and welcoming. There were plenty of times I used Couchsurfing not just for a place to sleep but also to attend local get-togethers.

On Meetup.com you’ll find most major destinations have LGBT/queer-themed groups and meetups, and these are often a great and safe way to meet other LGBT travelers in nonsexual encounters. Sometimes you’ll find them for very specific interests, whether it’s a group of gay science fiction fans in Berlin or LGBT professional networking in London.

StartOut, a nonprofit for professional business and entrepreneurship networking events in various American cities, is also worth checking out. Facebook, with its thousands of public groups, can also provide a great meeting point online — and then offline — through local city or regional networking groups. It’s just a matter of doing some research beforehand to find the right networking group for your trip.

A Note on Safety

As I’ve written before in this LGBT travel column, safety and comfort is an important part of any gaycation. Thankfully, there are more than enough resources online to help you decide what or where might be safer to travel. For a more independent look at the LGBT rights and safety situation, Equaldex is my favorite. Unlike media and blogs, this is a crowd-sourced platform where users can post and share country-specific news articles related to LGBT rights. This can be especially helpful for those less-familiar places and to get a general comparison of LGBT inclusiveness around the world.

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Over the years and thanks to new technologies and new formats for our media, the way we travel now has changed for the better. And for LGBT travelers specifically, these advancements have made it not just easier but also safer and friendlier. Using these tools and resources, so much more of the world is open to us.

Adam Groffman is a former graphic designer who left a publishing job in Boston to travel around the world before settling in Berlin, Germany. He’s a gay travel expert, writer, and blogger and publishes a series of LGBT-friendly Hipster City Guides from around the world on his gay travel blog, Travels of Adam. When he’s not out exploring the coolest bars and clubs, he’s usually enjoying the local arts and culture scene. Find more of his travel tips (and embarrassing stories) on Twitter @travelsofadam.

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Nomadic Boys dot com is far and away my fave LGBT blog. Here’s the reason; they have fun! And the fun energy bleeds through their blog. Such a playful experience whenever I visit their blog, read their posts and learn more about the travel spot plus the experience of gay or lesbian travelers.

I grew up in a NJ town with a big LGBT population. I even had our former NJ governor has a neighbor, not living too far from me. I feel blessed to have a wider, more open perspective on travel, on relationships and on love, and feel these rocking blogs just bring our world together.

Thank you Matt and Adam. I think it’s great that such a mainstream and popular site as Nomadic Matt offers posts like this. 🙂

Adam, I was reading some of the previous posts you’ve contributed here- particularly of interest was “Should LGBT Travelers Visit Anti-LGBT Countries?” There was recently blog post here about breaking down the myths of Africa being a dangerous tourist destination, which I enjoyed, but it didn’t mention anything about the dangers to LGBT travelers specifically, especially when 30 African nations still have laws that outlaw homosexual acts.

The thing is, as a traveler I’m definitely more drawn to more off-beat destinations. I’d rather be at an historical site than a gay club; the thought of an all gay cruise or resort does nothing for me- not that there’s anything wrong with that! (Honestly, I live in Hell’s Kitchen, which is like one of the gayest 12×3 block areas in the world and sometimes when I travel I need a break! ha)

If after we’ve weighed all the ethics and safety concerns about traveling to an “Anti-LGBT” area and we still want to go what are the best resources/blogs for gay travelers to those places? If I want to go to Angola, Uzbekistan and Belarus where should I be looking for advice from other gay travelers?

I’ve checked out the Nomadic Boys and noticed they had been The Maldives, which is notoriously anti-LGBT friendly. They seemed to be able to travel there in a safe tourist bubble, but they also stayed on (and recommended) private guesthouse/resorts that cost anywhere between $1000 and $3000 (gasp! faint!) a night! This summer I’ve booked private rooms in hostels in Skopje and Pristina for like $15/night. I assume you can be safe anywhere in the world if you want to pay places 3 grand a night for discretion, but what about an “average” traveler like me?

Maybe this is a gap in the gay tourism industry that needs filled, or perhaps the info is out there and it has just eluded me thus far. And it’s not like I want to even find out about “gay” Skopje, Pristina (if there even are such things) or even “gay” Amsterdam. I’m clearly not traveling to Skopje if I’m in search of gay clubs and circuit parties. But I would like to look at the things to do in these cities through a gay lens. That’s what I guess I really wish there were more of.

Hi Ben, These are some great points and excellent questions. There are many more resources which I wasn’t able to include in this article due to space constraints. For example, when traveling to more off the beaten path destinations (and ones less-than-gay-friendly), I always first check the government travel advisories from both the USA State Department and the UK Foreign Office. Then, there are many LGBT news websites that include information about LGBT issues around the world. DailyXtra.com has both city and country guides across the globe, plus their news reporting is some of the best. Queerty.com, GayCities.com and LGBTQnation.com all also include reporting from around the world and while GayCities might be severely outdated in its design, it is useful at a first glance for more adventurous places where there might only be one or two known LGBT spaces.

Another useful thing is to look for human rights organizations and see if you can’t find LGBTQ rights organizations operating in those places. If you can connect with them before your trip, you may be able to then find any underground LGBT meetings, events, parties, etc. I know friends who’ve done this when traveling in Russia.

And of course there’s also Instagram – which has probably the most underrated search feature. I use Instagram all the time to try and connect with other LGBT travelers and locals. Using certain hashtags and searching a location, you can often find gay people from a particular region and then hope they’re friendly and willing to connect. And of course when you’re in a location, using the gay dating apps like Grindr are always helpful for finding out about what might be happening while you’re in town. Just be careful when using Grindr in places where there are little or no LGBT rights/safety, as it’s been reported that sometimes these apps are used for entrapment.

Generally, I think it’s a matter of meeting the locals – by connecting with LGBT rights organization, using social media and reading the LGBT news.

Oh – and about finding LGBT-friendly accommodation in unsafe places. I think you’re more often better served by sticking with big international chains like Hilton, Starwood and Marriott which have all made concerted global efforts to train their staff. GayCities and publishers like Spartacus also include accommodation recommendations for all budgets – just do your research before to make sure the places are still operating as sometimes I feel their listings are a little out of date.

Thanks much for taking the time to reply. I just checked out DailyXtra and like it. Real heartbreaking story on the homepage about the situation going on right now in Indonesia.

As much as I normally chafe at the idea of staying at hotel over a hostel, you make a good point about staying at a major chain. I applaud companies like Hilton and Marriott for their inclusion and I do want to support them. I know Marriott is a major sponsor of Pride here NYC and they do a lot of good for the community. Why can’t they open up a chain of hostels? ha

I did want to bring up a quote from your previous article about traveling to anti-LGBT areas: Troy Petenbrink, a journalist and blogger, wrote, “In general, I think we do more to help change anti-gay destinations’ attitudes and behaviors by rewarding destinations that openly welcome us. I believe destinations seeing the power of the LGBT travel dollar benefiting their competition can bring about change. Those who argue that gays and lesbians vacationing in a horrible anti-LGBT destination such as Jamaica will somehow bring about change are foolish — and potentially dangerous.”

I couldn’t disagree with Petenbrink’s words more! I realize this is oft-disagreed about topic in the gay community, but I think gay travelers in anti-LGBT destinations CAN bring about great change. I’ve emailed with several gay travelers from Nomadic Matt’s forum as well as other blogs and so many have shared stories about coming out to couchsurfing hosts, hostel guests/owners, free walking tour guides, etc in anti-LGBT areas and having great experiences. Many times the person said it was the first time they met a(n openly) gay person and some had even expressed surprise that we “seemed so normal,” a sentiment I’m sure many of us have heard even in the US from well-meaning, yet (somewhat) clueless straight, frat guys at a college party. These citizens living in countries with anti-LGBT legislation are the same people who will one day vote on decriminalizing homo acts or on gay marriage or gay adoption. These positive interactions could go a long way in making change. It’s easy to hate/discriminate/vote against a group of people you truly know nothing about- it’s a lot harder to maintain those feelings when you’ve met individuals and can see how the consequences of your hate directly affect those individuals.

Anyway, I appreciate the space we have here to exchange info and discuss these topics. Happy Pride!

This is such a great resource – thanks for putting it together. One thing I find tricky about gay travel is that there often isn’t one central place to look for all the kind of information you want to find. As a seasoned traveller myself, though, I’m used to looking through various resources and cross-referencing stuff to find what I want. But this article is a great start for someone who’s feeling a little overwhelmed. Your knowledge and authority on the topic is very obvious, Adam: good job!

This is awesome! Thanks for putting this list together. I want to add that DC also has Metro Weekly (a gay weekly magazine) and Tagg Magazine (a bi-monthly magazine for queer women that often writes about travel). Cheers!